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Gibson has bags and bags of debris she said she has picked up from a short stretch of sand between Beacon and Fairhaven Avenues.

Surf Street resident Kathy Hardman said there have never been problems in the past with the sand the city used to fill in what has been washed away.

"At first, we were very excited because in the winter time, the storm washes out all the sand and all we have is a rock road here, which is very difficult to walk on, so we were delighted they put some sand down so we could walk to the beach easily, and then when we found out what was in the sand, it wasn't quite so good," said Hardman.

Chris Gallant, Saco's deputy director of public works, said an employee was sent to the beach and discovered trash, including a spark plug.

Gallant said the city dredged the mouth of the Saco River for the sand and used 300 or 400 cubic yards of sand that was previously underwater.

He said crews dug a little deeper in the river this year to get the sand and may have hit a pocket of trash and will now have to work to clean it up.

"It's scary to think that when you're walking down, you might get hurt," said Gibson.

Gallant said they will go to the beach with rakes to clean the debris out of the sand. If that does not work, crews will haul the sand away and sift through it.